cmdop skills

A skill is a parameterised, reusable agent prompt — a skill.md (YAML frontmatter + system prompt) optionally paired with a run.py for non-LLM logic. cmdop skills is the CRUD surface.

List skills

cmdop skills list
cmdop skills list --origin builtin
cmdop skills list --origin workspace
cmdop skills list --json

Output:

NAME              ORIGIN     VERSION   DESCRIPTION
code-review       builtin    -         Review a directory and post findings
check-services    workspace  1.4.2     Verify systemd services on a host
disk-usage        global     -         Summarise disk usage by directory
nightly-summary   workspace  2.0.1     Roll up daily activity into a report

Show a skill

cmdop skills show code-review
cmdop skills show check-services --raw    # show raw skill.md

Prints metadata (origin, args, description) plus the resolved system prompt. The “origin” field tells you which copy won the lookup.

Skill origins (lookup order)

When you cmdop run <name>, cmdop searches in this order:

1. Workspace — ~/.cmdop/workspaces/<ws>/skills/
2. Global — ~/.cmdop/skills/
3. Builtin — shipped with the cmdop binary

A workspace skill with the same name shadows the builtin. Use cmdop skills show <name> to see which origin won.

Print the skills directory

cmdop skills dir
cmdop skills dir --origin global

Useful when you want to drop a new skill in by hand:

cd "$(cmdop skills dir --origin global)"
mkdir my-skill && cd my-skill
$EDITOR skill.md

Create a new skill (scaffold)

cmdop skills create my-new-skill
cmdop skills create my-new-skill --template python
cmdop skills create my-new-skill --template prompt-only

Scaffolds a skill directory with skill.md, optional run.py, and requirements.txt.

Validate a skill

cmdop skills check my-new-skill

Verifies:

• skill.md parses cleanly (YAML + body)
• Required frontmatter fields present (name, description)
• run.py (if present) has valid argparse subcommands
• requirements.txt (if present) is well-formed

Install / uninstall

cmdop skills install <name>                # from workspace marketplace
cmdop skills install https://github.com/acme/my-skill
cmdop skills install ./my-skill            # from local directory
cmdop skills uninstall my-skill

Installed skills land in the global skills directory. To install at the workspace scope, push from the cabinet’s skills section instead.

Reserved names

Some names are reserved (they mirror builtin tools): chat, connect, agent, permissions. Creating a skill with a reserved name is rejected at cmdop skills create time.

Skill frontmatter

---
name: check-services
description: Verify systemd services on a host
args:
  - name: host
    required: true
  - name: services
    type: list
    default: ["nginx", "postgresql"]
---

For full authoring rules (system prompt structure, tool whitelisting, output schemas) see /docs/skills/writing-your-first-skill.

Related

• cmdop run
• cmdop chat
• cmdop trigger
• cmdop instructions